BBC: Anticipating an earthquake or flash flood can save lives. At the recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration discussed the natural hazard warning system they have been developing. With the use of GPS stations, accelerometers, and pressure and temperature data, they have been monitoring ground movement and air moisture in Southern California in order to anticipate and deliver early warning of flash floods, potentially destructive earthquakes, and other extreme events. The GPS stations provide real-time information that can then be disseminated quickly using modern communication devices such as smartphones.